The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the renaming of the state of Kerala as “Keralam”.
The president will now refer the Kerala Alteration of Name Bill, 2026 to the state Assembly, following which the Centre will take further steps to formalise the change.
On June 24, 2024 the Kerala Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to rename the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had moved the resolution, seeking the invocation of Article 3 of the Constitution to amend the First Schedule, which lists the names of states.
Vijayan had said at the time that the state is called “Keralam” in Malayalam. He had also said that there is a demand for a unified Kerala for Malayalam-speaking communities that has existed since the Independence struggle, The Hindu reported.
In August 2023, the Kerala Assembly had passed a similar resolution, but the Centre sent it back because of procedural gaps.
The Cabinet’s approval came ahead of Assembly elections in the state, which are expected to be held in April or May.
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